I was curious about the conditions of my spark plugs. They're original as far as I know. I pullled one out to see, the tip was complete white, no trace of black or tan. Basically it looked brand new and I checked the gap, it was .068. I also noticed that my exhaust smelled really rich, I think the car is running real lean and is using a bit more gas to try to boost the air/fuel ratio back where it should be. Should I be real concerned or just leave it alone?

Really white plugs sounds more like burning coolant to me...

Hey Fuel.

You do know that your plug gap should be .060" right? Did you say that you only pulled the one plug? What are the gaps and conditions of the rest of the plugs?

How many miles on the car?

If the exhaust smells rich, why do you think it is running lean?

Which could make your exhaust smell rich...

Hey Lash

Yes, I do know that the gap should be .060 but I'm going to replace them later anyway. I did only pull one plug, it was too hot (outside) to pull all.

I have 105,303 miles on the car. I mentioned the white plugs to Elmo and he said "You're running lean" I said "Odd because the exhaust smells rich" then he said "Oh it'* the car using more gas to boost the ratio up"

Now if my car is burning coolant, I haven't noticed any coolant loss, there was a tiny coolant loss but I assumed it was all the air getting out after my flush (that I did a month ago)

It could be that some cylinders are lean (at least the one you pulled) and some others are rich. The PCM could by trying to fix a lean condition with more fuel to all cylinders, but some are still lean while making others even more rich, leaving unburnt fuel in some of the exhaust. You need to pull all the plugs. Overall, you could be running the right amount of fuel, but not individually. You want to be correct individually.

if the car is using more gas than how is it running lean :?

Like said, ASAP pull all the plugs and write down the condition of each. Also, take the time to note wheteher any are wet when pulled and if so, wet with fuel or water (smell). Then replace them with a good new set of AC Delcos or NGKs, gapped correctly at .060"

Also, have you ever replaced your O2 sensors?

I can't remember, do you have access to a scan tool?

huh, my plug doesn't look like any of those.

I don't have any access to a scan tool, the closest one is Rob. I've never replaced anything on the car except the CAI.

I'll do the plugs when the car cools down completely. Do you want me to take pictures of each one and post it here?

Pics could help. Make sure to get clear close pics of the ends.